The present invention relates to a modular fuel tank and mounting arrangement for a vehicle such as a truck or a bus and a method of installing same on the vehicle. More specifically, the design of the mounting arrangement allows the fuel tank and entry/egress steps to be sub-assembled off of a main assembly line and brought to the main assembly line as a unit for installation with little or no alignment required. The mounting arrangement may be applied to other modular assemblies for vehicles such as battery boxes and air tanks.
Heretofore, components such as fuel tanks on trucks and buses were installed via a time consuming and man power intensive process on the main assembly for the vehicle. As each vehicle was moved into the fuel tank installation portion of the assembly line, a hanger bracket was bolted to the frame rail. This hanger bracket was shaped semi-circular or xe2x80x98Lxe2x80x99 shaped to receive a round or xe2x80x98Dxe2x80x99 shaped tank respectively. Line personnel physically moved the fuel tank up to the hanger bracket and while holding the tank against the bracket, wrapped tank straps with linking bolts around the tank. Each tank strap was fastened at one end with bolting through the frame rail side member and the other end with bolting to the hanger bracket. The process was cumbersome due to the bulky nature of the fuel tank. Time was required to align the fuel tank so that access points such as the filling point were properly situated. Fuel tank mounted entry/egress steps could only be installed after tank installation on the vehicle.
Accordingly, a primary object of the apparatus and method of the present invention is to provide the vehicle with a fuel tank assembly with a mounting means which allows the fuel tank and entry/egress steps to be sub-assembled off of the main vehicle assembly line, brought to the main assembly line as a unit, and installed with little or no alignment effort required on the main assembly line.
The method of achieving this type of installation is accomplished via a combination of a set or sets of two brackets and an initial alignment means for each set of two brackets. The initial alignment means is comprised of two mating components, with one mating component being a portion of one bracket and the other mating component being a portion of the second bracket. One bracket of each set is installed directly to a portion of the vehicle under manufacture, such as to the frame rail. A modular assembly, in the case described in detail below a fuel tank assembly, is assembled separately with the second bracket of the set installed on the modular assembly. The modular assembly is moved to the main assembly line where the sets of brackets are joined via the initial alignment means. The initial alignment means allows the modular assembly to be temporarily attached to the vehicle with little or no alignment effort. Final attachment may then be made between the set or sets of two brackets and hence the modular assembly and the vehicle, while the modular assembly is held into proper position via the initial alignment means. One or more set or sets of brackets will be needed depending on the geometry and size of the modular assembly to be installed.